1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an infant safety seat. More specifically, the present invention relates to an infant safety seat which is appropriate for use in an automotive vehicle. Still more specifically the present invention relates to an infant safety seat of the variety which is supported on the back of a seat which is pivotable between a rearwardly tilted position defining an adult mode and a forwardly tilted position defining an infant mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known in the art of vehicular seats safety belts have been shown to reduce the hazard to the vehicular occupant in the event of accidents. Safety belts improve the safety of the occupant by preventing the occupant from being thrown from the vehicle in a crash and by preventing the occupant from being thrown against the interior walls of the vehicular cabin. Since adult safety belts are not effective for restraining infants in the same manner as adults due to the differences in both the size and the shape of the infant's body, it has been found that, in order to afford an infant the same protection which seat belts give to an adult, it is necessary to provide an infant safety seat which can be mounted on the seat of the vehicle and held securely in place.
In view of the enhanced safety requirements, vehicle seats have been developed recently which can, when the seat back is tilted forward, accommodate an infant safety seat on the back thereof in such a manner that the child's seat faces in the rear direction. An example of such a prior art seat is shown in JM-A-62-37536.
In the device mentioned above the main seat cushion is supported on a the vehicular floor by means of a rail in such a manner as to be slidable forwardly and backwardly. A seat back reclining device is provided by which the seat back is attached to the internal frame of the seat cushion. The seat back reclining device allows the angle of the seat back to be selected from among a number of predetermined angles. The reclining device is connected to the frame of the seat cushion by means of a pivotable base link which cooperates with the seat cushion frame and the seat back to allow free pivotal movement of the seat back between a position in which it leans rearwardly and a position in which it is tilted forward so as to accommodate an infant seat to be mounted on the rear side thereof.
When the seat back is in either the rearwardly tilted position or the forwardly tilted position, the link plate can be locked by means of the latching mechanisms.
When the seat back is in the forwardly tilted position the forward latch mechanism serves to maintain the seat back in a condition wherein force acting on the link cannot cause it to fall backwardly. Therefore, the infant safety seat, which comprises a safety harness for restraining the child within the seat so as to prevent an impact to the child in the event of an accident, can be safely supported on the back of the seat. When the seat back is in the rearwardly inclined or "reclining" position, the latch mechanism serves to prevent force exerted on the seat back in the forward direction from causing the seat back to fall forward.
A release mechanism provided at the upper portion of the side edge of the seat serves to release the latching hooks from the stopper pins so that the position of the seat back can be selected from among the forward position and the reclining position.
In the above described type of seat hinge mechanism, the latching mechanism of the base link is of the conventional type which is inherently very strong. Therefore, when strong force is applied to the seat back while it is in the forwardly tilted position the force is applied to the reclining mechanism which connects the seat back to the base link. In view of the safety aspect of the infant seat it is therefore imperative to provide a reclining mechanism which is much more strongly reinforced than those found in conventional types of seat back which do not accommodate the child safety seat.
This reinforced reclining mechanism is problematic in that it is heavier and more expensive to produce than other conventional seat back reclining mechanisms. Therefore, in view of cost and weight factors, it is preferable not to provide such a reinforced seat back reclining mechanism in all vehicle seats, and accordingly, a second production line must be established for the reclining mechanisms of vehicles in which it is anticipated that the infant safety seat will be installed.
In view of the above problems there is a need that is felt in the prior art to provide a method of reinforcing conventional seat backs in such a manner that a single inexpensive production line of seat back reclining mechanisms can be safely employed, both in seats that are intended to accommodate the infant seat and in those which are not.